


You've Got a Shot, Though

by cobblestaubrey, drivingmecrazy



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Student Council, and less friends, cis lesbian au, kind of a crack fic, kind of enemies to friends to lovers but more subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobblestaubrey/pseuds/cobblestaubrey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/drivingmecrazy/pseuds/drivingmecrazy
Summary: "Gigi Goode, Jackie’s sworn enemy.Okay. Not sworn enemy. She wasn’t sure if Gigi even knew who she was. However, that didn’t stop Jackie from feeling something when Gigi was around. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, but it must’ve been envy or jealousy. The blonde girl was rich, and beautiful, and Jackie felt drawn to her whenever she was around. Did she want to be Gigi Goode? That had to be it.And it pissed her off."Jackie runs for student council president. So why does Gigi freaking Goode have to, too?
Relationships: Gigi Goode/Jackie Cox, Nicky Doll/Rock M Sakura
Comments: 24
Kudos: 25





	You've Got a Shot, Though

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! It's me, cobblestaubrey, also known as Griffin or Griff or whatever, I don't care LOL and today, I have a very special story!
> 
> Drivingmecrazy, AKA Strawberry on AQ and I teamed up and wrote this story! We started planning it about a month ago, and it devolved into this chaos that we call a story. 
> 
> I had SUCH a fun time writing this with her! She's my closest friend in this community and y'all KNOW I was a HUGE fan of "Girl I Met on the Internet" so collabing was the ONLY move!! This took a month because we spent 50% of our time goofing off and going on Twitter when we should have been writing. Most of that goofing off was me, I'll be honest LOL but I NEEDED to rant about Jan Sport and fanfiction, okay? But I'll take the blame for why this took a month to write LOL 
> 
> Note from drivingmecrazy: I am very excited that I was able to collab with my favorite author in this community for this story!! It’s based on a TikTok I saw in July, and wanted to write, but I couldn’t so Griffin was super cool and offered to team up and write it with me! I hope y’all enjoy this, I had a lot of fun writing it!!

“I’m just sick of people not taking me seriously. I mean, who cares about student council treasurer?” Jackie threw her hands in the air, continuing to pace around the emptying hallway.

Nicky furrowed her brows. “There’s a student council treasurer?”

“Yes! Me!” 

Jackie had been treasurer since her freshman year of high school, yet no one seemed to know who she was. She had tried to put herself out there time and time again to no avail, and she was fed up with consistently failing at it.

Nicky at least had the decency to look sorry. “Oh… On purpose?” 

“Yes, Nicky, thanks. A good friend you are.”

“Not what I meant!” Nicky held up her hands in defense. “I’m just wondering if you’re stuck there? Have you tried running for something else?” 

Jackie had never thought about leaving her spot as treasurer. No one had ever tried to snatch it from her; it felt like she owned the position. Nicky was right, though, a change of pace could be what she needed. “I guess Vice President would be nice?”

“Mm. Not big enough,” Nicky responded almost immediately. 

“But, the only other option is...”

Nicky smirked. “Exactly.”

“I can’t run for student council President!” She couldn’t believe what Nicky was suggesting. It would be a total long shot. 

Shrugging, Nicky continued. “Why not? The position is open,” she leaned forward, nudging Jackie with her elbow. “We all know what happened to the last President.” 

Jackie grimaced, remembering the fate of Dahlia, who had been President since freshman year. She had been popular and easily snagged the votes of every boy in the grade. The only problem was she had no idea how to be President and basically had faked it the entire time, until it all finally caught up to her. Her Vice President, Jaida, had ratted her out for fulfilling none of her presidential duties, and Dahlia had ‘stepped down’ before the student council could impeach her. 

“Do you really think I could do it?” This would be a big decision; it would put Jackie way out of her comfort zone.

“Why wouldn’t you be able to? You’re smart, and you’ve - apparently - been in student council this whole time. You have the experience.” 

Jackie couldn’t remember a time Nicky was so unabashedly supportive, but she couldn’t complain about being buttered up. 

“I don’t know…”

Nicky pursed her lips, before speaking again. “How about this, I’ll be your advisor!” She could see Jackie was still not convinced, and continued on, “I’ll tell you what to do, make sure you don’t make any of those stupid puns you like-”

“Stupid?”

“Yes, Jackie, they’re stupid, and no one’s gonna vote for you if you say them.”

Jackie sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll think about it, alright?”

“I think it would be… _good_ for you.” 

That sounded weird. “O-kay…” 

“Well, I’m about to be late for cheer,” Nicky started, turning on her heel, before looking back at Jackie, “but definitely think it over.” 

The conversation was definitely odd, but Jackie was too preoccupied with thinking about all of the things she could get done, and the power she would have if she were President.

Dahlia had never listened to any of her ideas. Jackie had spent so much time calculating how to reallocate money from their failing sports teams to the underfunded arts department, but Dahlia was failing ninth grade algebra in junior year and didn’t know how money worked. 

On her way out of the school, towards the parking lot, Jackie had kept her eyes on the floor, and nearly ran into a wall. Stumbling backwards, trying to catch her balance, she got a good look at what was on the wall. 

  
  
  
  


“No _freaking_ way.” 

Gigi Goode, Jackie’s sworn enemy.

Okay. Not sworn enemy. She wasn’t sure if Gigi even knew who she was. However, that didn’t stop Jackie from feeling _something_ when Gigi was around. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, but it must’ve been envy or jealousy. The blonde girl was rich, and beautiful, and Jackie felt drawn to her whenever she was around. Did she want to _be_ Gigi Goode? That had to be it. 

And it pissed her off. 

* * *

Nicky did not have cheer practice that day. She wasn’t even wearing a cheerleading uniform - she wasn’t sure how Jackie missed that - but she was grateful for the brunette’s obliviousness.

Instead of going to the gym, Nicky headed down to the art wing, where Rock was. Walking inside one of the classrooms, she found Rock devouring a glue stick.

“What the fuck?”

“My mom didn’t pack me a snack and you took too long,” Rock spoke around the glue, continuing to munch on it as Nicky watched in horror. 

“Well, I’m pretty sure I convinced Jackie to run.”

Rock’s eyes lit up, and she finally put the glue stick down, brushing her sticky hands on her pants. “Seriously?” 

“It actually wasn’t that hard. Did you know she was treasurer?”

Rock sent her an exasperated look. “Yeah that’s the whole fucking point, Nicky, we talked about this.” 

“I was a bit distracted,” Nicky smirked, giving Rock a once over, which made Rock roll her eyes. 

“Slow down, Casanova, we have a different couple to get together first.” 

Crossing her arms, Nicky raised an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to trust you when you eat glue sticks?”

“It was one time!”  
  
“There are three empty glue sticks right there.”

Rock quickly shoved them off the desk, wincing as they clattered onto the floor. “No there aren’t. Anyway, you don’t have to trust _me_. Gigi Goode gets what she wants, and she wants Jackie.” 

“Are you sure you two are even friends? How does this work?” 

Rock scoffed. “I’ve known Gigi since she was in designer diapers. We go way back.”

“Suuuure.”

Rock rolled her eyes, and then got out of her seat. Walking over to the printer in the corner, she pulled out a large sheet of paper from the printer tray, and held it up for Nicky to see. “Now, come on, we have more of these posters to put up.”

* * *

Jackie had given in and signed up to run for President, and now she was sitting in the library, waiting for the first meeting. She had arrived twenty minutes before it was supposed to start, like she always had done. 

A few students had taken residency in the chairs in front of her and behind her, but it wasn’t as many people as she originally thought. Her competition wasn’t too steep, either.

There was Jan, who had never won anything in her entire school career, and Scarlet, who was funny and personable, but couldn’t tell the difference between “President” and “precedent”. The others were no names who Jackie had never even seen in the library, and her confidence was on the rise.

Until Gigi Goode walked in, two minutes before the meeting started, and took a seat right next to Jackie.

Great. The last thing Jackie wanted was to have Gigi sit next to her.

Gigi sent her a soft smile, which Jackie pointedly ignored, crossing her arms and facing towards where the principal would begin speaking.

“So you’re running too?” Gigi asked, flashing her another smile.

“Uh, yeah. That’s why I’m here,” Jackie finally spoke to her, annoyed at Gigi’s ignorance. 

Gigi looked firmly chastised, folding her hands in her lap and nodding. “Cool.” 

Luckily for the blonde, the principal finally stood up to address the room, saving her from the awkward moment with Jackie.

“Alright, I assume you’re all here for the student council President position?”

Most everyone nodded at that, except for one student who got up and left. 

The principal, after watching said student leave, turned back to the group. “Alrighty. Well, as you all know, being President means holding a lot of responsibility for not only yourself but your classmates and their time here…”

Jackie, having heard a similar speech before, began tuning the principal out, letting her eyes wander around the room. 

Eventually, she was pulled out of her trance by Gigi, who elbowed her lightly. “Treasure her? I barely know her!”

Jackie flinched away from Gigi’s arm, sending the girl a glare. “What?”

“Treasurer, ‘treasure her’, get it?” Jackie stared blankly, causing Gigi to falter. “You’re the treasurer, right?”

“Yes.”

“Cool.” 

Jackie couldn’t believe that Gigi was trying this hard to distract her. Shouldn’t Gigi be focusing on what the principal was saying, and not on Jackie?

She rolled her eyes. Gigi must’ve thought Jackie was real competition if she was willing to stoop so low. Jackie knew it was all a plan to get her in trouble, so she was trying her best to ignore all of the terrible puns Gigi was throwing at her.

By the end of the meeting, Gigi had finally stopped trying to speak to her, and Jackie was thankful for the silence so she could go back to zoning out. However, when everyone was dismissed, Jackie could see out of the corner of her eye that Gigi was still there, waiting. 

“Well,” Gigi began, scratching the back of her neck. “Good luck!”

Jackie did her best to not react. “Thanks,” she muttered, slinging her backpack around her shoulder and leaving, barely avoiding a collision with Gigi’s shoulder.

* * *

Election season was now in full swing, and candidates were dropping like flies. Now the only two people left were Jackie and Gigi. Jackie was extremely confident that she was doing fairly well, as everyone she had asked said they would be voting for her.

Jackie had sauntered up to Nicky, leaning on the blonde’s locker as she always did in the morning, but Jackie wasn’t as tired as she usually was. Instead, she was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “How are the polls looking, Nicky?” Jackie asked, watching Nicky pull up the results on her phone. She had heard she had been doing better recently thanks to the few posters Nicky had made for her that hung around the halls, and couldn’t wait to see the polls. 

The blonde skimmed the page, before looking up and smirking. “You’re up three percent.”

“Really?” Jackie grinned, trying to look over Nicky’s shoulder at her screen. “What’s my total?”

“Three percent.”

Jackie’s eyes went wide, searching Nicky’s face for the joke. 

“What? But… Everyone said they’d be voting for me!”

Rolling her eyes, Nicky put her phone back into her pocket. She crossed her arms and raised a pointed eyebrow at Jackie. “You asked three people, and I was one of them.” 

Jackie ignored her, shaking her head at herself. “How is this possible?” 

Looking down the hallway, Jackie spotted Gigi talking to a girl Jackie recognized from her BC Calculus class. Wait, was Gigi handing her money?

Nicky had begun talking about something or another, but Jackie couldn’t be bothered to care. She had bigger problems right now. She stalked towards Gigi, ignoring Nicky’s calls behind her. 

“Hey!” Jackie shouted when she was close enough to be sure Gigi would hear. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

“Oh hey, Jackie,” Heidi, the girl next to Gigi, said, “Have you done the homework yet?”

“Um, yes, obviously I did the homework, but that’s not important right now,” Jackie flared her nostrils, giving Gigi a piercing glare. “Are you bribing her? Seriously?”

Gigi continued handing the girl the money, albeit slower, as if she assumed that if she was quiet enough, Jackie wouldn’t notice. “No.” 

“I can see you, that is, like, fifteen dollars.” 

“Actually, it’s twenty!” Gigi smirked. “And there’s no rule against it, the principal didn’t say I couldn’t bribe people!” 

Putting her hands on her hips, Jackie scoffed. “Is this how you get through life, Gigi? Buying your way into anything you want?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t be here right now,” Heidi said, looking between the two. She quickly pocketed the money and slipped out while the two other girls were busy staring each other down.

Gigi rolled her eyes. “Would you rather have me slander you? I’m sure I can pull up some sort of blackmail.”

“Good luck with that, I haven’t done anything remotely as bad as you have. I should be slandering you!”

“Oh, yeah,” Gigi crossed her arms, smirking, and Jackie knew this was bad news. “Freshman year, dress coded in the hall.”

Jackie sputtered, “that wasn’t my fault! It was the rampant sexism!” 

“But the forty percent of undecided male voters might say otherwise.”

Jackie stopped in her tracks. “Really, forty percent?”

“Yeah, I think they hate women and don’t want to vote for one.”

“Well, they don’t have a choice.”

“Right? It’s actually ridiculous.”

“Yeah,” Jackie nodded, before lowering her eyebrows and looking away. “Wait, no! I’m mad at you! You can’t blackmail me.”

With a flip of her hair, Gigi began to turn away. “Then I’ll keep bribing whoever I want.”

As she started to walk down the hall, Jackie called out, “You won’t win this way!”

“Are you serious, Jackie? Yes I will,” Gigi laughed, causing Jackie’s cheeks to burn at the sound. Whether it was from embarrassment or something else, Jackie wasn’t sure, but she was angry, and she wanted to win. 

* * *

If there was one thing Nicky hated, it was being interrupted while kissing pretty girls in her bed, but if there was anything she hated more, it was how oblivious Jackie was to everything around her.

Rock pulled away, her forehead creased. “Why is your ringer so loud?”

Nicky rolled her eyes, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. “Shut up. This better be worth it.”

_[jackie.cox] Gigi is SO annoying! She’s bribing people left and right, and has no qualifications, and she keeps… smirking at me!_

“Well?” Rock leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse at Nicky’s phone.

“Definitely not worth it,” she muttered, “It’s Jackie, ranting about Gigi as always.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be her advisor?”

Nicky laughed, “Yes,” before sending a message back to Jackie.

_[nickydoll69] u r dumb_

_[jackie.cox] ??? I have a 4.0 GPA ???_

_[nickydoll69] dumb_

Nicky looked back up, raising an eyebrow at Rock. “Gigi is bribing people?”

“As her campaign’s financial advisor, I completely support this.” 

“Well, Jackie’s having an aneurysm over it.”

“Lemme see,” Rock scooted off of Nicky’s lap to sit by her side, taking her phone. “Really? She’s _mad_ at the smirking? That was like, the opposite of what Gigi wanted.”

“Gigi planned this?”

Rock shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, she said something about no girl being able to resist the ‘Goode Charm’,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “She’s ridiculous.”

“But is she wrong?” Nicky asked, showing Rock the newest text on her phone.

_[jackie.cox] I hate her and her stupid smirk on her stupid pretty face!_

“That sounds kinda gay, Jackie.” Rock commented, and then looked back at Nicky. “We’re getting somewhere.”

“No we are not,” Nicky scoffed, “It’s going to take her two years to realize she likes Gigi at this rate.”

“Trust me, if Gigi ups the ante, there’s no _way_ Jackie can resist her.”

Sending a quick text back to Jackie, Nicky put her phone down and pulled Rock onto her lap. “This sounds fucking stupid.”

Rock simpered, leaning closer. “It is, but it’ll work.” 

* * *

Jackie was still fuming by the time lunch rolled around the next day, but she tried to keep her cool, as she was with Nicky and Rock. Gigi’s table of rich, future socialites was only ten or so feet away, but Jackie tried to block the blonde’s voice out nonetheless. 

“Have you guys seen the _TikTok_ where-”

“No Rock, I have not seen whatever anime _TikTok_ you’re about to describe,” Jackie pointed at Rock with her spork, before piercing one of the cubed peaches in front of her. 

“And I _have_ seen it, and probably hated it,” Nicky added. “I hate all of the _TikToks_ you send me.”

“Even the-”

“Yes. Even that one.” 

“You guys suck.” Rock pouted, picking up her _Capri Sun_. “I send you guys the best ones!”

Jackie was about to respond, a quip on the tip of her tongue, until she heard an obnoxious, loud male voice behind her. 

“I don’t think _gay_ people should be allowed to run for anything, let alone president…”

It wasn’t like Jackie hadn’t heard something like this before, but with her losing numbers in the poll, this only made her angrier. 

Before she had the chance to turn around and begin degrading whoever had spoken, another voice rang out.

“Hey!” 

Jackie watched as the boy who had spoken and his friend turned away from her, only to come face to face with Gigi Goode. 

The blonde’s glares were usually cold, but this one was especially sharp. “Jackie being gay has nothing to do with why she’s going to lose!”

“Very nice, Gigi, very cool,” Jackie muttered to herself as she watched this go down. 

“Because she’ll be losing to a lesbian, anyway.” Gigi stared the boy down, “how do you feel about that, Jake?”

Sputtering, Jake looked around the cafeteria where half of the student body had been watching. “But you’re so hot, you can’t like girls!” 

“And why not?” Gigi cocked an eyebrow. 

“Because!”

“Because…” Gigi leaned forward, urging him on, “You’re an idiot?” 

“Yes!" He said with his full chest, and then pulled back, scrunching up his brows, “Wait - no! What?” 

A few spectators began to laugh, as well as Jake’s friend, who had backed up to put space in between them. Gigi smirked, taking in the crowd, before meeting Jake’s eyes once again. “Do you think you’ve embarrassed yourself enough, or should I keep going?”

He rolled his eyes, scoffing. “Whatever. Bitch.” He walked away, motioning for his friend to follow him. 

Jackie swallowed, unsure what to think. She had been so rude to Gigi these last months, but Gigi had just stood up for her, and she was gay? 

“Uh,” she started, inwardly cursing herself for sounding like a moron. Gigi turned to her expectantly. “Thanks.” 

Gigi nodded once. “Yeah.” She turned away swiftly, giving Jackie no chance to say anything else. 

When she swiveled back around to Nicky and Rock, the two appeared to have been listening with rapt attention. However, when they noticed she could see them again, they switched positions, looking anywhere but at her. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Huh?” Rock asked, studying her lunchbox. “Nothing, we just - oh did my mom pack cookies? Sweet!” 

“Wow, so cool Rock! No glue this time?” Nicky asked, her eyes way too wide and her excitement too over exaggerated.

Rock deflated at the comment. “I wish.”

“Uh… okay.” Jackie looked between the two, wondering what moment she had just interrupted. 

Silence fell over the three, before Nicky spoke again. “So… That was _really_ nice of Gigi.” 

“And she’s gay,” Rock added, helping no one. Nicky kicked her underneath the table, which caused Rock to yelp.

“Yeah, that was really nice of her to come out to defend me,” Jackie shrugged. 

“Yeah... it was… _very_ kind of her to do that…” Nicky emphasized the thought, leaning forward in her seat. 

It _was_ really nice, Jackie thought to herself, twisting slightly in her chair to catch a glimpse at Gigi’s table. The blonde was laughing with her friends, her wavy hair going past her shoulders. Jackie let her eyes stay on Gigi for only a moment more, before she slid them back to the table. Maybe there _were_ two sides to every story, and Jackie had written Gigi’s side without even getting to know her. She had stood up for Jackie, seemingly without a second thought, would Jackie have done the same? Of course, but… Jackie was a good person, right? Could Gigi be a good person, too? 

Jackie was pulled out of her thoughts by the conversation Nicky and Rock were having at the other side of the table. “Do you think it’s working?” Rock had whispered, glancing between Nicky and Jackie.

“What are you two talking about?” Jackie asked, furrowing her brows. 

Rock’s eyes went wide, before she stuttered out “Anime! Crunchyroll on mobile is so glitchy!” She gave a tense smile, and let out a high pitched, fake laugh. 

“Right…” 

Though she was still confused, Jackie wouldn’t let Gigi throw her off completely. It was almost the end of the election season, and Jackie knew her only way to reel in the undecided voters was to nail her speech. She had begun writing it, but had no direction. After what had just happened, an idea finally hit her. 

* * *

By the time speeches rolled around, Jackie was filled with confidence. She was extremely proud of the speech she had prepared, she had been rehearsing it every single night and was ready to crush Gigi’s dreams of being President.

The two sat to the left of center stage in the auditorium where the speeches would take place. Their entire class trickled in slowly, making their way into the rows. As more and more piled in, Jackie’s anxiety rose. She could feel dozens of eyes on her. The principal began introducing the two candidates, redundantly, if Jackie had to say, and then gestured to Gigi to step up to the podium. 

Gigi stood up swiftly, walking up to the stand, the clack of her heels echoing through the large room. All eyes were on her now, so Jackie could finally relax.

With bated breath, Gigi finally began her speech, dragging her eyes along the audience. 

“Hey guys! My name is Gigi God, I mean Goode, fuck, I mean, not fuck, I mean, shit, I mean, hey!” She turned to the principal, cocking her head, “Am I allowed to keep going or am I suspended for that?”

He nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

“Cool. I decided to run for President because we need someone who can work! And I can, even though there’s a rumor that I can’t. Thanks, Dahlia. You wish you could be up here.” 

“No I don’t,” a voice called out from the audience.

“Shut up, Dahlia. I hope that was Dahlia. Anyway, I am really good with an E, get it, Gigi Goode? Wow, funny, too? You guys are really gonna miss out if you don’t vote for me.”

Jackie watched in horror as Gigi’s speech devolved into absolute chaos. She had no idea where all of Gigi’s confidence came from, as it appeared as though she was an absolute moron when it came to public speaking. 

“So, if you don’t vote for me, know you are not cool. You probably are a nerd and want to vote for Jackie for, I don’t know, longer Dungeons and Dragons meetings. Sorry Rock. Peace!” 

With that, Gigi pulled away from the podium, and walked back to her seat, a smug smile on her face. “Beat that, Jackie.”

Jackie sent her an incredulous look. “I would be worried if I couldn’t.” 

Letting out a deep breath, Jackie got up from her own seat, and walked to the center of the stage. She gripped the podium tightly, bending down slightly to speak into the microphone. 

“Hello everyone. As you know, I am Jaqueline Cox, your treasurer, and, hopefully, your future president. I have the experience of being in the student council, and I am fully confident that I have what it takes to be the greatest President this school has ever had.” She took another breath, looking down to read the next line of her speech.

“Coming into high school was difficult, as it was for many of us. Figuring out who we are, who we want to be, who other people think we should be, it’s like we’re placed in a box before we even know how to break out. Now, look at us.” She tried to find a few familiar faces, smiling gently at Nicky and Rock, who were situated a few rows to the left. “Soon we’ll be going into the real world, where more boxes will be built around us, some less temporary than others. I want to help give each and every one of you the tools to break out of those boxes, regardless of how daunting it may seem.” 

She had spent hours figuring out what her speech was going to be about, and hit several walls. However, thinking back through her own high school experience, it was not her intelligence or her drive that made her happy or successful, it was her bravery. It was her fearlessness in being herself. That was all she ever wanted for everyone else, as well. 

“Because of my upbringing, my boxes were always so rigid, and I was always afraid to break out and be myself. But coming here, and seeing all of you, and finding out who I am, I’ve learned that the only way to live is to live truthfully. There is always going to be fear and danger in subverting expectations, but are you really living, if you aren’t you? Allowing diversity into our school, and allowing it to flourish, would be the best opportunity we would have to create a graduating class of unique individuals who are ready to break out of societal confines, and be exactly who we all want to be.” 

Jackie scanned the audience, looking for any reactions. Everyone’s faces were blank, besides Crystal, who was sobbing in the front row and Gigi, who was staring intensely at Jackie.

“If you elect me as your president, I promise that I will fight each and every day to ensure that everyone gets to be themselves. There will be no fear in my hallways.”

Crystal stood up, starting to slowly clap, looking around and waiting for the other students to join in. They didn’t. She sat back down immediately, trying to pretend she didn’t embarrass herself in front of the entire student body.

“Um. Thank you,” Jackie spoke, shifting her eyes around the unreactive audience. 

With that, she turned to go back to her seat. Gigi held up her hand for a high five, which Jackie stared at for a little too long, before slowly bringing her hand up to meet Gigi’s. 

* * *

_“And for our final announcement of the day, the new heads of Student Council…”_

Jackie listened closely, tapping her sneaker on the cafeteria floor to keep her occupied. It was the end of the day, and after what felt like thirty activities and announcements, it was finally time to learn who had become the president. She had been in study hall for her last period, and with little homework to occupy herself, had been terribly anxious and snappy while waiting.

_“Our Secretary is Widow Von Du…”_

Jackie rolled her eyes. She had run unopposed, what was the point in announcing this?

_“Our new treasurer is Brita Havea…”_

At least some good had come out of this race, Brita would be a fantastic replacement, _and_ she voted for Jackie.

The principal paused, which only acted to further annoy Jackie, and her tapping foot became incessant. 

_“And our new President and Vice President are… Gigi Goode and Jackie Cox, respectively!”_

What?

“ _What?_ ” 

What had happened? Had she been Thomas Jefferson’d? Why was she the Vice President? 

“I’m sorry,” Nicky said, putting a hand on Jackie’s shoulder to console her. “Gigi’s speech was God awful, but it was the most human thing she has ever done. She won by a landslide.”

Jackie turned her head away, accidentally finding Gigi amongst the sea of students, across the room. She was clapping for herself. Jackie looked away quickly, because Gigi’s presence and her joy were making her upset. She gathered her things and started heading to the library. Once she got into the empty hallway, she heard footsteps behind her that followed her rhythm, but they were getting closer. After listening closely, Jackie could tell that it was no other than Gigi, the last person she wanted to see.

“Go away, Gigi.”

“I know you’re pissed but listen to me!”

Jackie continued walking towards the library, bunching her hands up at her sides. “Why should I listen?”

“Because!” Gigi sputtered.

“Amazing argument.” 

The loud groan Gigi let out shocked Jackie for a second, before Gigi started speaking again. “I… might’ve… offered the school some _things_ to have you be my Vice President, because I knew how much this meant to you!”

Jackie stopped in her tracks. She hated the fact that Gigi couldn’t seem to stop bribing people, but then again, that money could go towards a lot of the programs that desperately needed funding. 

“Why would you do that for me?” She asked, staring at the linoleum floors under her. “I don’t think I’ve ever been nice to you.”

“Does it matter?” Gigi asked, putting her hand on Jackie’s shoulder to turn her around. “You can make it up to me,” Jackie furrowed her eyebrows; Gigi actually looked… nervous? The blonde put a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, looking down, before looking back up at Jackie. “I was planning on going bowling tonight, if you want to join me?” 

“You were going bowling… alone?” 

Gigi nodded fervently, “Yeah! To, um, celebrate my win!”

“...Alone?”

“No one else won the presidency, did they?” 

Jackie chuckled, shaking her head. Gigi was a lot more than the bitchy front she put up in the past, and Jackie was actually enjoying getting to see this other side of her, in a weird, ironic way.

Jackie finally gave in, smiling despite herself. “You really bribed the school for me?”

“Yes!” Gigi laughed, and Jackie joined in, because the situation was _ridiculous_. “Go bowling with me?”

Jackie rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Sure, why not?” 

“Great!”

There was a pause, before Jackie spoke again. “So, are you picking me up?”

“Um…” Gigi looked around, tapping her shoe on the floor pointedly. “You are aware I’m gay, right?” 

Jackie took a mental step back. “What?”  
  
“I can’t drive, Jackie, I’m gay.” 

“Okay?” Jackie was even more confused, now. “I’m gay too, and I can drive?”

“Yeah, but, you’re… sophisticated.” 

Laughing, Jackie nodded. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll pick you up, just text me a time.” 

“I don’t have your number, though?”

“DM me on _Instagram_ ,” Jackie said, giving Gigi another easy smile.

“Okay.” Gigi flashed her a toothy grin before turning around and heading back to the cafeteria to celebrate her win.

Jackie rolled her eyes, wondering what she had gotten herself into.

* * *

Clothes were strewn everywhere in Jackie’s room, covering her bed and desk. She couldn’t find a single, cohesive outfit she wanted to wear, but she had never cared before. What had changed? 

Did Jackie… _like_ Gigi? No, that couldn’t be possible, she had felt nothing but anger towards Gigi until recently. Everything Gigi did had made her mad, or confused, or nervous, or… 

God damnit. She _did_ like Gigi, but there was no way the blonde could feel the same way. Gigi was out of Jackie’s league, and she had no chance after she had been flat out rude to her the entire election season.

And now, they were hanging out, only because Gigi felt bad for her, and Jackie was going to be weird about it. Great. Gigi had done such a nice thing for her (ignoring the bribery), and even had offered up a friendship, and Jackie was going to ruin it by being a dumb lesbian. 

It was less than thirty minutes until she was supposed to pick Gigi up, and having this crisis was _not_ it. She looked over to her bed, where her phone was lying on her comforter, and wondered if it was too late to cancel. Sure, Gigi would be disappointed, but Jackie was not willing to put herself and her dignity through this. 

She walked over to her bed, writing out what she would send to Gigi in her head (something along the lines of “Oh my God! I completely forgot that my mother wanted me to do xyz tonight, I’m so sorry!”), until she realized she had a notification from the other girl anyway. 

_[gigigoode] cant wait for tonight! this is the second thing im gonna beat u at today :)_

Jackie laughed, despite how insulting that should have been. How was she supposed to cancel on her, when the blonde sounded so excited? Fuck it, she was going to have to put her feelings for Gigi on the back burner for tonight.

_{jackie.cox] Jokes on you, I am a MASTER at bowling!_

She wouldn’t say she was amazing at bowling, but she thought winning something against Gigi would help her shattered ego.

_[gigigoode] :’(_

Against her better judgement, Jackie decided to leave for Gigi’s early, in case she got lost. Gigi lived in a neighborhood she wasn’t entirely familiar with, so she was being prepared. She totally didn’t want to get there early on purpose.

However, when she finally arrived, she found herself overthinking everything. What if Gigi thought it was weird that she was early? But she couldn’t just sit in Gigi’s driveway like a stalker, that would be even weirder. 

_[gigigoode] are u at my house??_

“Shit,” Jackie whispered, texting back a quick response before Gigi could think mean thoughts about her.

_[jackie.cox] Yeah, sorry I overestimated the amount of time it took me to get here. Haha_

_[gigigoode] it’s okay just give me a minute and i’ll come on down :)_

To Jackie’s relief, Gigi came out of her house only moments later, dressed in jean shorts and a striped blue button down, and it might have been the first time Jackie had seen her without heels, having swapped them out with a white pair of sneakers. It was the most dressed down Jackie had ever seen her, but it somehow only fueled her newly realized attraction. God damnit.

Although the car ride was a little awkward, and Jackie almost T-Boned someone because she got distracted by Gigi, they got there in one piece.

The bowling alley had a galaxy theme, with bright strobe lights flashing over the starry rugs and countertops. Children filled up almost every lane and every game that the arcade portion had to offer, throwing balls into gutters and stuffing their faces with pizza. 

Jackie remembered being young without a care in the world, which was the exact opposite of how she felt right now, with Gigi’s hand brushing up against her own as they walked to the counter.

“I’m paying,” Gigi announced loudly, handing over her money to the gangly cashier, who was about as subtle in checking Gigi out as every other boy in their grade (which was not at all, ever). It annoyed Jackie, throwing a glare at the boy that she hoped he noticed.

They got their shoes from the counter, and headed off to their lane. 

Jackie was feeling pretty confident after she found the perfect bowling ball, happy with the way her thumb wouldn’t get caught in it when she released it. However, after plugging in both of their names into the system, Gigi immediately bowled a spare. 

As ‘SPARE’ played across the screen, Gigi did a celebratory dance, which Jackie found it boastful, but also cute at the same time, which she hated.

“You’re up,” Gigi looked back at Jackie as she walked towards their seats, smirking. 

Jackie did pretty well, knocking over seven pins, having left two on the left and one on the right. She tried to hit the two on the left, but her ball ended up going straight through the middle of the lane. 

“Oooh, not quite,” Gigi teased, walking up and grabbing her teal ball from the ball return. She took a few moments to align herself, sending her ball down the middle and knocking over all ten pins.

“Woo!” Gigi brought back the celebratory dance, stopping as soon as she saw Jackie’s face. “Uh…”

“It’s fine,” Jackie lied, standing up too straight. 

She ended up knocking over another seven pins, which was still fine, but annoyed her further with how far behind she’d still be.

It was like Gigi picked up on Jackie’s irritation, because once it was her turn, she rolled a gutter ball.

“Oops! Silly me, I’m just too dainty to hold this heavy ball, it looks like!” Gigi pouted, letting her wrists bend down. 

Jackie squinted and tilted her head. “Yeah…” 

“I guess you’re gonna catch up…” 

Jackie continued looking at her suspiciously, before shaking her head and getting up once more. 

Gigi didn’t give up her act of pretending she couldn’t hold the ball, and Jackie ended up winning the game with a total of 73 points.

“Did you let me win?” Jackie finally asked, after watching Gigi manage to knock down one pin on her last go.

Gigi had the decency to look surprised. “Wha- I- Of _course_ not! You’re just so good at bowling!” 

“Do you want me to teach you, then? We can play another game.”

“Yeah! I’d love to.”

Every time Jackie would help Gigi hold the ball, she would feel Gigi lean into her touch. Surely Jackie was just imagining it, there was no reason for Gigi to want to do that. Despite her instruction, Gigi hadn’t been getting better, and had to keep asking for Jackie to repeat her instructions again and again. 

That was, until the end, when Gigi finally got another strike. Her little dance came back once again, and Jackie found herself smiling at the blonde. 

“Jackie! We did it!” She squealed, hopping off the platform to give Jackie the tightest hug. 

“Yeah, we did. We’re a great team, I’m glad we were able to become such good friends after everything!” 

She could feel Gigi still almost immediately, before pulling away from Jackie and giving her a cold stare. “Friends?”

Jackie swallowed. “Yeah? What else could we be-”

“I ask you to go bowling with me, and pay for it, and get you to ‘teach me’ how to bowl, even though I’m clearly better than you, and you call us _friends_?”

“Wait, so you were faking it?” 

“Yes, Jackie, you idiot! So not the point!” She threw her hands up, balling them into fists and setting them back down to her sides. “I like you! I don’t know how to spell it out so you can finally figure it out, but I’ve had this massive crush on you for like a year!”

Jackie felt every word she wanted to say get lodged in her throat, watching Gigi grow angrier.

“And I thought you felt the same, because you said yes to this date!”

Jackie took a step back mentally. “This is a date?”

“‘This is a date?’” Gigi mocked her, “Of course it’s a date!” She let out a huff, closing her eyes and finally calming down. She spoke calmly, her voice sounding like it was on the verge of cracking. “Did you not want this to be a date?” 

“No, I do! I just never thought you felt that way about me!”

Gigi laughed incredulously, shaking her head. “Seriously? I thought I was being totally obvious.” 

Suddenly, a _lot_ more of what had happened over the last few weeks made sense to Jackie. The reason why Gigi had sat next to her that day in the library, their arguments always being filled with tension that she couldn’t pinpoint, her own feelings towards Gigi. The way Gigi had always looked at her, intensely, and without shame. 

“I’m not… the best at picking up on things…” She rubbed the back of her neck, her face beginning to burn. “I feel like an idiot now.”

“You should, honestly. I _bribed_ the school for you to be the VP, and you thought absolutely nothing of it?”

Jackie rolled her eyes, trying not to let herself smile. “Way to make me feel better.”

Gigi grinned, leaning forward to nudge Jackie’s shoulder with her own. “Sorry, you’re just ridiculous.”

The two laughed, and Jackie felt all of the pressure of the night fall off her shoulders. She wasn’t sure what this would make the two of them, but for once, she couldn’t be bothered to care. She was having a good time, and she was having a good time _with_ Gigi. “Yeah, but you _like_ me.”

“You like _me_ , and I bribe people.”

“Morals be damned in the name of high school crushes,” Jackie shrugged, laughing along with Gigi, before pressing her lips together. “Where does that leave us now?”

Gigi twisted her bowling shoe on the ground, quirking her mouth to the side. “I guess we could, you know, finish our date?”

Jackie could feel herself genuinely smile again, blushing under the strobe lights. “Well… I _am_ positive I could kick your ass at the arcade games.”

Gigi smirked, leaning forward to grab Jackie’s hand, pulling her towards the Arcade. “You’re on.”

**Author's Note:**

> We spent the entire month arguing over what the end note would be to this story and most of it was about how mean we are to each other on twitter.  
> Okay, I'll admit, it's just me, I'm a bully.
> 
> We hope you guys liked this story, comment + kudos if you did! We live off of praise and love.


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